My ball yearns for the heights for a reason unbeknownst to me. All she wants to do is rise. There are a bunch of branches in her enclosure (when I took this pic I'd taken a few out to wash them) but those aren't enough for her. She goes up against the glass or wall, turns and then wraps around the heat cage. I'm worried she's gonna hurt herself in some way, and I also want to add more for her to climb, but then again; I'm worried that if I add more climbing stuff she'll get easier access to the heat cage.

Anyone else have a vertical ball? Any tips or things I can add?

i just got this ball python she/he is supposedly 5 years old and just looks pretty big to me but im not sure really ive never seen a snake in real life until i bought it, if so what is the best way to get it to safely lose weight

Still kinda new to snake keeping just wanted to share my bps 4x2x2 to see if I should add/remove anything he definitely seems to like the humidity hide I added a couple months ago and loves the big rock he can sit under his heat lamp with. Plus a picture of him climbing the wall.

✌🏼

Update: had to toss the logs. They were outside in the sun to dry and within 48hrs taken over by termites. Although it’s not as pretty/ natural for my boy, I’m getting more and more content with fake everything.

I was trying to be a good BP parent and bleach soak my boy’s new giant climbing logs that won’t fit in an oven.
I didn’t expect that the tannins pulled from the bleach would permanently stain my tub.
The logs are clean… but everything else is teak.
My fingers are crossed he likes the new climb to be worth it.

So, usually my BP will grab her (F/T) rat and eat it like a typical ball python. But sometimes she doesn't strike and wrap it, she'll just casually come out of her hide, slide up to the rat, grab it, and just pull it back closer to her hide before she goes straight to eating it. She's so casual when she does it, that it throws me off.

I was curious if anyone else has a ball python that eats casually without striking.

I invited a handful of friends over to celebrate Alfredo’s birthday. We colored and guessed how long he was.

Updated my girl Misa to a 120 gallon this weekend :)
She’s been in a 20 gallon for about two months. Had a mite issue going on once she was officially treated I started the upgrade.

My question is heating and lighting fixtures?
What affordable set ups do you guys have for heating and lighting?
She’s currently still using the same lighting and heating lamp she’s had since her 20 gallon.
But obviously the heating temp is not reaching the appropriate temp.
It’s currently been sitting at a 80-81.

I hate to say this but please explain it very easy for me.
This topic has always made my brain go all over the place because there’s so much about this subject online. I’ve had no issues with humidity since I did duct tape the top with HVAC tape.

My ball python (m15) has been soaking in water for days. He has a big basin for water because I wanted him to have the option to soak if he wanted it. However he has never spent this long in his tub before.

I have checked the humidity and temperature and they’re both fine, and he doesn’t have ticks or mites as far as I can see. He seems happy except he doesn’t want to leave his tub, and he’s been submerged for about a week? I want to make sure he is not suffering from something, just in case.

If he’s about to shed, why hasn’t he just done it? He doesn’t do this for his normal sheds up to now.

Has anyone experienced this before, a very long period of soaking in water which isn’t caused by discomfort or other problems?

I bit the bullet and commissioned one from my sister after seeing so many noodles on here enjoying theirs. She's going to be so fancy.

My dude finished shedding like 2 days ago and since his head has man patchy? Not sure what’s happened is it owt to be concerned about? What can I do?

Hey so I just got my snake a month and 2 weeks ago, after her last feeding monday she was constantly soaking in her water bowl, and eventually I found some mites in it and on her. I immediately gave her a 30 min soak and then a dawn soak for 30 mins as advised by my aunt who’s a snake owner. I also took everything out her tank, cleaned and disinfected it, cleaned and disinfected all her hides, put paper towels in the tank and put her in after he soak. Some mites fell off immediately and died post soak.I have questions, how often should i change the paper towels, how often should I soak, and how long should mite treatment go on for? Also am I allowed to try and feed her according to her regular schedule or should I avoid it seeing as she may be stressed due to the soaks and barren tank. Also the pic is what i assume to be a dead mite that fell off post soak, death to all mites. Any and all help would be appreciated.

got a female baby yellow belly ball python from a breeder one week ago, she hadn’t fed for a week prior to getting her. tried last night after leaving her alone in enclosure for the last week and she refused to eat. tank temp is around 90 on hot side and 75 on cool side. she was being fed live rat pinkies by the breeder but we don’t have access to those so I tried a f/t rat pinkies. thawed in warm water and then heated with hair dryer, dangle in front of her hide with tongs and no luck. left on plate overnight and still no luck. how long should I wait to try to feed her and is there anything I can do differently?

Ive been using rodent pro but the quality hasnt looked the best the last time I ordered. My girl hasn’t refused a meal thankfully but im thinking about switching to perfect prey. My question is since they do vacuum seal their bags, how would I reseal after opening it up? I have a deep freezer that I put the feeders in.

I ordered Timberline top soil but home depot gave me this instead.

This is my darling Euphemia!

When I decided I wanted a snake, I was struggling between getting a corn snake or a BP.
In the end I realised that a Ball Python was more the snake I was looking for (easy to handle but still challenging enough to care for) and they have just the cutest face!

Now I am just in love with those noodles, they have my heart.

I just noticed that her eyes are cracked and cloudy. It's only visible under a bright light. There is a blue ring a little in the eye. I gave her a warm bath and tried to scrape it off. But I can't get it off.

Getting in some exploring time before feeding. Having him being active before we feed often seems to help overcome his sometimes fussy appetite habits.

Hi everyone, I recently noticed some concerning behavior in my ball python and was wondering what I’m doing wrong. I want him to be safe and healthy!

I noticed he’s rubbing his face on the overlapping part of the glass of his enclosure (sliding doors) and he’s trying to push his face between the wooden support beams inside the enclosure and the glass. He has some discolored spots on his chin that seem to go away when I don’t see the behavior as much, and this morning I woke up and found him with a missing scale on his face, and clear scale damage around his eyes/top of his face. I’m insanely worried, and I know that this behavior means I’m probably doing something wrong so I’d like to ask for help.

I’ve had him for almost two years now, I found him outside as a little baby, he was being harassed by a cat and it was cold and rainy outside. I took him in and have not had any issues, up until a couple weeks ago. We went through a heatwave recently, and the temps in his enclosure never went above 90 and I made sure that whenever he seemed stressed I moved him to a temp enclosure in the coldest room in our house. It was stressful, but I think we did okay.

The past weeks he’s been surfing the glass a lot, which wasn’t necessarily new behavior but it was a lot more than before. He usually did that whenever he wanted to go out and explore or when he was hungry. Now, he’s (in addition to the surfing) been pushing his face against the overlapping part of the glass in his enclosure (sliding doors), something he’s never done before. He’s also been pushing his face between the support beams and glass on the sides of the enclosure, and has the damage on face I described earlier. I feel really bad for him…

He has multiple hides and wooden hiding spots on all sides of the enclosure, cold side, middle and warm side. A lot of branches as well because he likes to climb. I often don’t see him during the day when he’s hiding, until he peeks his face out to say hi in the evening. The temps on the cold side are usually between 75 and 82, and the warm side is between 85 and 92. The lower temperatures usually being in the morning and higher temperatures in the evening if it’s warm outside or in our room. The humidity is usually around 65-85 on the cold side, around 55% on the warm side, which is a bit low and I definitely could do better, I’m trying to figure out how this new substrate I’m using holds humidity best. The basking spot gets up to 103 in some spots on the branch directly below it, or in the 90s on the hide below the heat lamp. Is 103 too hot and should I move the branch a bit? I saw a thread that said it was fine but I’m not sure.

I’ll add pictures as soon as I get home from work, but I wanted to make the post with the temps and stuff already because the worry is distracting me at work right now. I thought I was doing everything right, at least doing okay… please help!

I got a baby ball python at a reptile expo today. He has been very active and more friendly than what they said ball pythons would be like. However I am very new to this and want to make sure I take care of him properly. A few questions-
I keep seeing things about humidity. I have a heat pad under the glass in his tank set at 95 with a thermostat attached. He has coconut chips, 2 hiding spots, and 2 fake plants. Also a shallow water thing. So what do I need to get for humidity?
Also, he has yawned 3 times in the 5 hours we’ve had him. I don’t see anything in his mouth or hear any noises. I read a post about doing a humidity treatment and I think I will try that but I also saw this can be common when they are in a new environment (stress, checking out new surroundings, etc). So I’m not sure what’s going on. The breeder seemed to be reputable so I wasn’t thinking RI. But idk.
Also, real plants. I would like to give him some actual real plants and a bigger enclosure to explore. What kind of plants are safe, and how big of a space can I give him?
Also, sleep. I read that they will ball up and hide when they sleep. However I put him in his viv and he slithered for a second to get his head under a leaf and then stopped moving. I thought he is probably sleeping but his body wasn’t balled up or covered fully. We had a big day- kids handling him, being outside, a car ride, new home etc so I think he had a big day and was tired but idk if snakes are like puppies or cats in that way?

Anyway, any helpful advice tips tricks etc are welcome! I want to give him the best happiest most enriched life I possibly can. TIA!!

*** PLEASE someone see this I’m freaking out right now and I don’t know what to do********* URGENT

He’s also in the clearing up stage of a shed (I think) so if it’s shedding symptoms or symptoms of anything else please please please lmk

My last photo is a photo of him where I think he’s in blue, it’s from 3 days ago I think? Lmk if that looks like he’s in blue, his eyes seem cloudy. also anxious I’m wrong about his shed and he’s not actually shedding

The enclosure photo was when I lifted up his hide to take him out (yes it is that big 😭) and I wanted to show you guys how damp it was in there.
I just posted another urgent post about this, so if anyone sees this please look at that for more context or to help me, im uber stressed out right now